Chapter 601: The Difference Between Superman and Batman

"Rosenberg, did you already plan for a sequel while making Batman Begins?"

The press conference was massive. Warner Brothers had rented out the lobby of a five-star hotel just for the occasion. Even with hundreds of reporters present, the room was remarkably quiet. Everyone seemed afraid of missing a single word from Duke, leaving only the standing reporter's voice to echo through the space.

"There are rumors that you submitted an outline for a trilogy to Warner all at once," the reporter continued.

"Batman's story will never truly end, and I think you all know that."

Resting a hand on the microphone, Duke adjusted the volume slightly and said, "After watching the first film, you completely understand that the story has to continue. The reason I agreed to direct it is because I happened to come up with a good story idea, and I knew how to carry on the legend."

The reporter continued, "The reputation and quality of sequels are usually a cause for concern. How will you control The Dark Knight?"

"The estimated production budget for The Dark Knight is 150 million dollars. For massive productions like this, the most likely problem when filming a sequel is that you get a bigger budget and create grander spectacles, but fundamentally, you are still just endlessly repeating yourself..."

Duke smiled at this point, refusing to reveal any more substantial details. "Since we have recognized this issue," he said vaguely, "I have been striving to avoid making similar mistakes."

The press wasn't so easily deterred. The next person called upon, a reporter from the New York Times, pressed further. "Director Rosenberg, many fans have placed high hopes on this Batman film. They want to see a work even more outstanding than Batman Begins, and they want to know more about it. Surely you won't disappoint them, right?"

Duke deliberately pretended to think for a few seconds, acting as if he were truly moved by the reporter's words. "Only after my team was in place did I realize that making a sequel is also a monumental undertaking," he said. "We had to re-examine all the characters—both returning and new additions—with the expectation that the moment they appear on the big screen, they will instantly captivate the audience."

Since he had already opened up, Duke offered a few more words. "The sheer number of supporting characters selected for The Dark Knight falls into the massive category. But if you compare it to the original comics, you'll find that this number is still just the tip of the iceberg."

Every reporter's eyes were fixed on him. Duke continued, "We will change some of the characters from the comics, even their genders. This is one of our methods of adaptation. We've read all the comics, so we can only extract the elements we need. Then, depending on the story's progression, we figure out how to alter the characters to make them serve our own narrative."

These words sparked a wave of discussion in the crowd. Duke turned his head to glance at Jamie Foxx of Warner Brothers. Foxx quietly gave him a thumbs-up, clearly satisfied with a statement guaranteed to generate buzz.

Soon after, the reporters shifted their questions to the leading actor, Christian Bale.

A reporter from the Weekly World News asked, "Mr. Bale, you've never been interested in sequels. Why did you agree to continue filming Batman?"

Why? For the high salary and the three-picture deal he had signed, of course.

In the budget, Christian Bale's personal salary reached a staggering 15 million dollars, triple what he made for Batman Begins.

Naturally, that wasn't something he could say to the press.

"'Repeating' the same thing isn't something someone like me usually does. The only reason I was willing to appear on the big screen with the same face this time is entirely because of Duke."

Christian Bale turned to look at Duke and said, "This is our second time working together, and I know him very well. I know that, just like me, he would never take on a sequel if he hadn't come up with fresh and unique story elements."

He gestured with his hands. "I love the concept Duke instilled in me, because I won't just be repeating something I've done before. My character will have very obvious development and evolution. What's more, we have an incredibly talented group of stars involved, along with a harmonious collaborative atmosphere. I had no reason to refuse, did I?"

A reporter caught onto an interesting detail in Bale's words, standing up to ask, "Batman will have obvious development and evolution? Can you give us some specific details?"

"Sorry, I haven't received the script yet..." Christian Bale pushed the question onto Duke without hesitation. "When it comes to changes in Bruce Wayne's character arc, you're better off asking the director."

Hundreds of reporters instantly shifted their gazes from Bale to Duke.

The reporter asked Duke, "In Batman Begins, Batman endured his unbearable past to become the city's superhero. Will he still be surrounded by an aura of darkness?"

"He actually surpassed the person he originally wanted to become long ago. He has walked out of his agonizing past and escaped the memories that tortured him, so..."

Duke shrugged and chuckled. "We had no choice but to find some new things to torture him with... Simply put, Batman has never escaped his past, nor could he ever escape it."

"He won't become a character like Tony Stark, right?"

The moment the reporter finished asking, he noticed the people around him staring at him like he was an idiot, immediately realizing he had asked a stupid question.

Nevertheless, Duke answered it. "Batman doesn't have time to sit around sulking, nor can he self-indulge and vent his anger however he pleases. He has to constantly keep his emotions in check."

Clearing his throat, Duke continued, "Starting from Batman Begins, we've actively tried to make him face and overcome a wide variety of obstacles, including anger and hesitation... So by the time we reach The Dark Knight, we will introduce even more changes."

Glancing over at Bale, he added, "This character played by Christian Bale will step out of the painful shadow of his parents' murder. But even so, he remains a very dark character, worlds apart from sunny superheroes like Tony Stark."

The Q&A segment of the entire press conference revolved almost entirely around Duke. After Batman Begins pioneered the dark superhero film style, everyone was deeply curious about where his The Dark Knight would take Batman next.

Toward the end of the press conference, the reporters' questions began to drift endlessly off-topic. Duke picked out only the ones with news value and promotional buzz to answer.

One reporter asked, "Duke, in your opinion, what is the difference between Superman, Clark Kent, and Batman, Bruce Wayne?"

"Superman and Batman are arguably the most popular superheroes in America. Perhaps we can look at it from a different angle."

Thinking for a few seconds, Duke adjusted the angle of the microphone and said, "I remember someone once said that Superman is how America sees itself, while Batman is how other countries see America..."

Looking at the reporters below, Duke leaned back in his chair. "I have to say, it's a very interesting perspective. The most intuitive impression 'Superman' gives is undoubtedly the perfect embodiment of an ideal. On the other hand, 'Batman' possesses more human traits. He isn't bound by so many idealized rules, so he comes across as much more human when handling things. There are even some political elements mixed in—which happens to be the main reason I love this character."

In both the comics and the movies, the moment "Batman" appears, he throws his surroundings into chaos, making it difficult for people to immediately distinguish right from wrong with clear moral concepts. A major theme of The Dark Knight, to some extent, stems from realism, making it clear that no one can exist outside the law, not even as a "vigilante."

With the press conference over, the day's work came to a temporary halt. Duke didn't linger. He got into Scarlett's red sports car and headed straight back to Malibu.

After dinner, the two took a stroll through the garden. While they were sitting in the living room watching TV, Scarlett opened the finalized script for The Dark Knight. After reading for a while, she suddenly asked, "Just what kind of person did you make the Joker out to be? Why does he refuse to let go of Batman and Harvey Dent?"

"The Joker continuously provokes Harvey Dent and Batman, these two avatars of justice," Duke said, pointing at the script. "He even hopes that Harvey Dent will shoot him dead, and that Batman will kill him. Because if they do, they will become just like him, and the one truly controlling Gotham will be the Joker's logic."

After a few seconds of silence, Duke said in a low voice, "Actually, everyone thinks that their own logic is correct, and that the world operates according to the logic they believe in. If the world isn't like that, we just assume it's only a superficial phenomenon, and that the true underlying logic must be the one we hold. To prove this, all it takes is to give someone a 'little push,' and they will fall right into their own logic."

Scarlett looked thoughtful before shifting the topic in a different direction. "Suppose a beautiful woman believes that all men are scum, that men are only interested in her body and won't actually love her. She will then use her body to seduce men, and she'll find that she only needs to give them a little push for these men to turn into perverts."

Duke laughed and followed up on her words. "Suppose a rich man believes that everyone is greedy, that money can make the dead drive a car. Then he will use his money to give countless people a little push, and those people will fall right into his grasp."

"And what about the Joker?" Scarlett asked.